Hogwarts: Learning Curve
by Stillnotwalking
Summary: It's been nine years since the 'Golden Trio' began their quest for the Horcuxes, three since they succeded in defeating Voldemort. Now with the world finally at peace the Trio finds themselves back on the paths they were destined for. Two of them, however


The sun was shinning, the green grass swaying in the gentle breath of a breeze that blew through every fall and spoke of new session at the Magical School of Hogwarts. Yet the calmness, even in the Black Forest, seemed odd still. After all, the War of Equality had only ended three years earlier, and there was a time when this grand institution was a battle field. Strewn with bodies of the dead and dying; death…cruelty the only entrée of the times.

Now, though, the war was over once and for all. Voldemort would never return, that was quite certain thanks to the efforts of the Golden Trio. They braved countless dangers and made forth to destroy the Horcuxes; and in so doing destroyed Voldemort's very essence. In the end, however, it wasn't the trio that dealt the final blow. No, it was ended by the one who began it, Harry James Potter; the boy who lived. As was expected through the prophecy he meet Voldemort in a final duel and battled him for countless hours. The other members of the Trio; Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, stood by protecting Harry from the death eater's that might disobey their leaders order to leave Harry to him.

Though, even if the death eaters were brave enough to disobey Voldemort, few were brave enough to face either of the two protecting Harry Potter. They had heard of the exploits of the Trio; their many battles with the Death Eaters while seeking the Horcuxes. Over the course of six years and hundreds of battles they had honed their skills to an art, each of them capable of wand less magic and each of them never speaking a word in spells. So, the Death Eaters dispersed to a certain degree, going to face the Auror's and Order members fighting on the field with the Trio. As such Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley watched as their friend battled Voldemort for supremacy.

While it was questionable whether any of the Death Eaters themselves could fight any member of the Trio, it was certain that Voldemort could. Harry, by far the most powerful in dueling, still struggled against the honed skills of a deranged and most likely desperate Voldemort. Knowing that his Horcuxes were destroyed weighing heavily on his mind as, at that moment, his immortality did not exist.

Jets of light bounced back and forth, the occasion bolt directed at the two friends standing by, who as if in after thought gently shrugged the bolt aside with a well placed shield charm and agility built on years of such fights. Eventually though, old age and lack of heart caught up with the cruel specter of evil. Voldemort fell, his wand cut in half by its twin through a well placed spell. The field of battle grew silent, the feeling of loss on the battle grounds great as the giant power flickered. Yet the final blow had yet to be given.

"…no…NO How can this be!? A foolish little boy such as you, defeating me! Impossible." Yelled Voldemort, defiant to the end.

"Riddle, foolishness comes in believing your safe through splitting your soul…and believing you are somehow better then others…many of your followers have learned this many still further have not." Said Hermione from behind Harry, glaring down at the crippled man.

"How dare you talk to me you Filthy little MUDBLgughh." Seethed Voldemort, unable to finish the last words due to an upraised hand by Harry Potter, apparently freezing his jaw in place through doing so.

"You no longer have the right to speak …no to us and no to the insects who you so rightfully belong to. The Terror you brought to us is caste off now; and we as will our future generations will be the enforcers of this peace." Said Ron, rather eloquently…the chances that he had rehearsed it rather large.

"If there is one good thing that came out of your existence Tom…It's that people learned to hate this war, and bring down anyone who would think to bring it upon them." Said Harry, smiling sadly down at the glaring face of the man who had haunted him for so long. "I wish it did not have to do this Tom, I spent years trying to prove that Dumbledore was right in trying to save you…but you are just an evil corrupted soul. You squandered the life you were given causing nothing but pain through your existence. Now, that pain stops."

Harry Potter took out his wand, and pointed it at the fallen man and as a tear strolled down his cheek he uttered two unforgivable words sacrificing a bit of himself to save all."

"And that is how the War for Equality ended." Said the Professor

"But, Professor, I'm confused why did the Death Eater's stop fighting?" asked a student, Grace if memory serves.

"Well, it has been a matter of speculation for some time really and while the true reason may never be found, I like to think that they new that no matter how many people they defeated there was still one man more powerful then even their Lord on the opposing side. After you realize that, it seems a little pointless to fight, of course the fact that your leader was also defeated by that man with only medium difficulty probably helps." Said the Professor, smiling slightly as her students laughed. "Does that answer your question Grace?"

"For the most part, thank you professor." Said Grace

"Professor, I have a question!?" said a short brown haired boy, Eadan., his arm raised well past his possible limits, in fact he reminded the professor of a certain bushy headed girl, who would dislocate her shoulder to get an answer in.

"Yes, Eadan?" asked the Professor

"Were you there, at that battle?" asked Eadan seeming very excited "With Harry Potter and Order and all of them?"

"Of course, I was and still am in fact the Head of the Order of the Phoenix. Mind you we are not quite as secretive about our membership these days; in fact Remus Lupin is one of our members as well."

"The Minister of Magic!?" gasped one of the students in the crowd.

"Yes, the Minister himself, and even though he does occasionally have to be put in a dungeon when he transforms into a werewolf, he still does a wonderful job." Said the Professor

"Well, Professor, did you know the Golden Trio then?" asked Eadan again, a certain bounce in his step…even though he was sitting.

The professor laughed at the students' attentiveness as she stood their considering how to answer her questions. If only they would concentrate so hard in their classes.

"Know them, they were my students and were in my house. Gryffindor the lot of them, and as such courageous and intelligent. I taught them transfiguration right here in this very school and I even gave Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter a very stern talking to on their first day for being late…which all of you should remember by the way." Said Professor McGonagall, watching as the incoming first years laughed at the thought of two of the wizarding worlds most famous hero's being scolded for being late.

"Professor McGonagall?" came a voice from the back, this time from another young girl; Sorcha.

"Yes, my dear, what is it?" asked McGonagall

"Where are they now?" asked Sorcha

"I'm sorry?" asked McGonagall, leaning forward slightly to try and hear the girl better.

"Where are the Order members and Trio now?" asked Sorcha again louder

"Oh, well that's a long list isn't it? Hmm, we are running short on time before you have to go and be sorted but I can tell you of few. Let's see; Remus Lupin is the Minister of Magic his wife Nymphandora Tonks always by his side. Ginny Weasley is now a successful Auror, and in fact helped round up quite a few dark wizards after the fall three years ago. Severus Snape, who had proven not to be a traitor, unfortunately passed away a year ago due to a glancing blow of the Killing curse, and Alastor Moody passed away of old age almost directly after the last battle. It was sad, but so like him to stick around just long enough to have one final battle." Said McGonagall a sad little smile on her face.

"And the Trio?" asked Grace, forcing the issue on everyone's minds.

"Well, I figured you would have known that, after all it's been all over the papers for three years. Ronald Weasley is a celebrated Keeper for the Chudley Cannons, ranked third in the world now for saves I'm proud to say." Said McGonagall giving the last bit a well deserved punch. "Harry Potter helped the Ministry gather up the rest of the Death Eaters but left the ministry shortly after the job was done. Remus Lupin asked him to come back when he was inaugurated as Minister, but Harry refused, citing that he had other obligations. As for Hermione Granger…well I'm sure you all know about her."

"Head Mistress McGonagall, their ready for you and the little buggers' now." said Mr. Filch

"Thank you Mr. Filch, but you know I'm I stepped down from that position, I'm just a professor." Said McGonagall matter of factly as Mr. Filch walked away grumbling, as always being flanked by his cat. "This way child, follow me, and don't be nervous everyone has to be sorted during their first year."

The doors to the Grand Banquet Hall opened with a loud thud and creak, the old wood timbers bending slightly under their own weight. Beyond the doors the group of incoming first years saw multitudes of people one to six years older than them. Professor McGonagall would always speak of her greatest achievement being that of keeping the school open during the darkest times of the war. Allowing for the new headmistress to have a full student body to work with now.

Still, the nervous students walked forward after Professor McGonagall with almost aching slowness found only in the pain of ones circumstances. Forward until the Professor stopped and moved to the front to talk to the head mistress apparently a few words being shared.

"Are you ready?" asked McGonagall

"Of course, though I do have one question." Said the Head Mistress

"Hmm, go ahead?" said McGonagall, interest etched onto her face.

"Did I look like that when I came through the gates?"

McGonagall laughed and only nodded moving to the side to retrieve the sorting hat and stool so that the children might be sorted into their houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. Though had McGonagall had her way she would have changed out Slytherin for one of the new hero's names…but tradition is tradition.

"Step forward when your name is called. I will place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted into your appropriate houses."

They were sorted thoroughly and quickly and, much to the sorrow of the person in charge of Slytherin house, very few were sent to Slytherin. Professor McGonagall was happy to see that Grace, Sorcha, and Eadan were all put into Gryffindor under her. She could foresee a great many scolding in store for those three. McGonagall chuckled at her own thoughts as she took her seat next to the new Head Mistress, awaiting her start of term speech.

As the Headmistress rose from her seat the noise which had engulfed the room steadily died away, being replaced instead with a respectful silence. It being her first year as Headmistress one would usually believe that there would be a bit of testing involved as far as the students were concerned. But when your headmistress was a living legend, well it paid to be respectful.

Hermione Granger had come into the position as a request from McGonagall. Apparently her old professor just wished to teach, and not have to worry about the political clout that went along with the Headmistress job. As such she believed passing the job along to someone who she could trust was the best idea…Hermione was the obvious choice.

"To those students who have just joined us I bid you welcome to your first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for those of you returning I welcome you back with open arms. I realize that Professor McGonagall's step down might come as a shock to you but she has done what she believed was in the benefit of the school. As such, you should not question her about this decision." Said Headmistress Granger, pointedly leaving a pause to accent her point. "As always the Black Forest is off limits to students who do not wish to die a most horrible death. Also I wish to remind all third years and over that anyone caught bringing in "Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes" patented self answering quills will be severely punished. Finally, as I am no longer able to teacher Defense against the Dark Arts classes, we have an opening for a teacher. The position has promptly been filled and you will meet your new teacher at your first class. I promise you will not be disappointed in the least. Now then, to quote Hogwarts a History; Let the feast begin!"

With a shock and awe that Hermione was all too familiar, the tables filled with food. Up and down with delights of the tongue such as one could only see at Hogwarts. It always brought forth good memories for Hermione, so much so that she couldn't smile and stare over her goblet as the students dug into their dinner, their eagerness for the term to come accentuating their hunger.

"You did wonderfully Hermione." Said McGonagall beaming.

"Thank you Minerva, still it would have been nice if those two could have come to see it, this is my dream job after all." Said Hermione, pouting slightly.

"Oh come now, you know they would have come if it wouldn't' have detracted from your big day. After all, what would have happened if they had come here, hmmm?" asked McGonagall in a knowing tone.

"Yes, Yes, I know they would have been greeted with parchment and quills for autographs." Chuckled Hermione

"Exactly, just as you would be if you weren't protected by the fact that you are Headmistress, you have to remember that you're a bit of a legend yourself." Said McGonagall winking "Besides, I could have sworn I heard a chuckle behind me at your quote."

Hermione perked up at this and turned her entire body towards McGonagall, who's only response was to smile and nod her head in the general direction of the disturbance. Hermione saw it then, behind McGonagall's chair, a shimmer that she knew quite well to belong to only one man; well one man who could get into Hogwarts without her knowing about it right away.

"Go ahead, I'll take care of the rest, you deserve a nice meeting with him." Said McGonagall smiling as Hermione thanked her gratefully and stood up.

Hermione moved gracefully without making a sound until right next to the shimmering object behind McGonagall's chair. Bringing her hand down towards the apparent ground she felt her hand stop a good four feet short, a piece of cloth being in between her and what she was sure was a full head of hair. Her point made, she excused herself and left to go to her office, being followed by an invisible man the whole way unbeknownst to anyone but McGonagall and herself.


End file.
